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Anyone Under 21 Will Not Be Allowed To Buy Cigarette Anymore, Health Minister

Anyone Under 21 Will Not Be Allowed To Buy Cigarette Anymore, Health Minister

The Ministry of health is set to approve the extension of the the age limit for access to cigarette.

According to the Health Minister in Sri Lanka Rajitha Senaratne, “the proposals would soon be drafted, and following cabinet approval, cigarette sales would be banned to anyone below the age of 21 years.”

Sirisena To Stop Cultivation Of Tobacco In The Country By 2020

Tobacco

The Ministry of health is set to approve the extension of the the age limit for access to cigarette.

According to the Health Minister in Sri Lanka Rajitha Senaratne, “the proposals would soon be drafted, and following cabinet approval, cigarette sales would be banned to anyone below the age of 21 years.”

In his words, “steps were also being taken to ban the sale of cigarettes near schools across the island in order to discourage students from smoking.”

He also added that the law will cover, “the ban of the sale of cigarettes within a distance of 100 metres around schools and this will be gazetted on April 7 to coincide with the World Health Day.”

Reports reveal that, “Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena recently blamed the use of tobacco and alcohol for the increasing poverty level and deterioration of health among poor people in the country.”

According to him, “more than 500 million rupees (about 3.2 million U.S. dollars) were being spent per day in Sri Lanka on tobacco and alcohol and the low-income groups were spending 35 per cent of their earnings on tobacco and alcohol. The government would aim to ban the cultivation of tobacco in the island by year 2020.”